In All But Blood
by Vacronix
Summary: With his clan's slaughter nigh, Itachi devises a plan to help someone who needs it. With Itachi taking and teaching Naruto away from the village that would soon hate them both, how will Naruto turn out?
1. Foolish Sentiments

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

**A/N: A new story! Just kind of had the idea and I ran with it. Itachi is one of my favorite characters and this story just kind of stemmed from my wanting to make him a major part of the story. You should be able to guess what kind of role he will play in Naruto's life based on the title. Anyway, hope you enjoy.**

* * *

**Chapter 1:** _Foolish Sentiments_

* * *

Orders were orders. This much had always been clear to Uchiha Itachi. If it was for the benefit of Konoha, he would carry his orders out. And that was why he had accepted the order to massacre his clan; for the safety of Konoha, he would accept the burden of being labeled a traitor, a murderer, a psychopath.

But the day was still young, and Itachi would not carry his orders out until he could be covered by the darkness of night. It was when he worked best. So he had decided to spend the day simply walking around and admiring the village he had come to call home, knowing that tomorrow he would be hated by all but a select few of those who would live here. He wore his entire ANBU outfit, including his Weasel mask, in order to stave off possible conversation; most people simply did not talk to ANBU. As much as he loved this place, he knew he may never be able to come back. It was a sad and sobering thought, but it was the price he had to pay. He knew it was a heavy burden, and that he would receive no thanks for the part he was to play, but he was not bothered by that. He preferred to not be thanked for mass murder, even if it was necessary.

In his wandering, Itachi noticed that he had come across the Ninja Academy. Apparently the classes were out for recess, as most of the kids were out and about on the grounds, playing or relaxing with each other. He saw his little brother, Sasuke, busy throwing shuriken at the practice dummies. There was a fairly large group of girls watching him. Itachi could only sigh and hope that Sasuke would not become spoiled and let attention like that go to his head, especially since he was likely to receive much more of it once he was the last Uchiha left in Konoha.

Itachi's eyes then wandered to the lone swing set. In it sat a small blond boy with whisker marks that Itachi was rather familiar with: Uzumaki Naruto. Itachi had been in the ANBU for the past three years, and an assignment he had commonly received was to watch over Naruto from the shadows. Itachi knew that the reason the Hokage gave the assignment to him so often was because Itachi was one of very few people who viewed the boy with more than indifference or outright hatred. He was of course aware of the young boy's burden as a jinchūriki, but Itachi was more than smart enough to see the boy as just that: a boy. It sickened him to see the way Naruto was sometimes treated, but he had always admired his determination. But looking at him now Itachi could see none of it.

Naruto was staring at the ground, lost in his own thoughts. His eyes were not vibrant in the way Itachi was used to seeing when Naruto was around others, but instead they were cold, and sad. Itachi knew that Naruto had dropped his emotional and psychological mask, not bothering to wear it when he thought no one was looking. He was saddened by the life Naruto was forced into, and wondered if the boy would be okay without Itachi around to protect him. He knew Kakashi also liked Naruto to an extent, but the man was usually either too lazy or too busy wallowing in his own sadness to look after him properly.

It hurt Itachi to see Naruto like this, but as far as he knew there was nothing he could do. He continued his trek around the village, enjoying as much of it as he could in the time he had remaining.

* * *

Hours later Itachi found himself ascending the Hokage Monument. He wanted to check-up on Naruto one last time, knowing that the boy often came to the Yondaime's head and looked over the village. When Itachi arrived he was not disappointed, as Naruto was calmly standing in his usual spot. Itachi silently leapt into a nearby tree and gazed out over the village like the boy before him.

It was like Itachi was seeing Konoha for the first time. He had never truly looked over the village from this high of a vantage point. The beauty was beyond comparison, and he could see why Naruto liked the spot so much. The sunset gave the village a warm orange glow, and Itachi lamented that it was probably both the first and the last time he would ever see something so beautiful.

Itachi was quickly brought out of his thoughts by a rather strong gust of wind. Knowing that it could send Naruto tumbling off of the cliff to his imminent death, Itachi jumped down to the ground and silently ran towards Naruto's position. As Itachi predicted, Naruto began wobbling where he stood, quickly losing balance and teetering over the edge. Seeing this, Itachi doubled his speed and caught Naruto's arm just before he fell. Pulling him back up to safety, Itachi sat him down on the ground a few meters from the edge.

"That was a close one, Naruto-kun." Itachi said. "You should be more careful."

"Sorry, Weasel, guess I should have paid more attention," Naruto said sheepishly.

"So what's on your mind? I know you like to come here when you want to think."

"... Why does everyone hate me?" Naruto asked, allowing his mask to slip off somewhat.

"Not everyone hates you, Naruto-kun. I don't, and I know that neither the Hokage nor those nice people at the ramen stand hate you."

"You know what I mean," Naruto replied, slightly angry. "And I know you know why."

"Forgive me, Naruto-kun, but it's not my place to tell you," Itachi said sadly. "Just know that not everyone hates you, and those that do are misguided."

"I hate them too, you know." Naruto said quietly. "No one ever looks at me as a person, only as a 'monster' or a 'demon.' I never did anything wrong, but it's just always been like that. I wanna prove them wrong, that I'm more than just these stupid names they call me, but I don't know how!"

"Forgive me, Na –"

"Can't you do something besides say that you're sorry!?"

Itachi could only silently stare at the boy before him, thinking over what he could say. Itachi had of course helped him many times before, mostly by doing things like he had done only a minute before or by saving him from the occasional drunk villager. But anyone could do those things. What was it that Naruto really needed? The answer came far too quickly. _A family_, Itachi thought. Something every child deserves but Naruto was constantly denied. _And it's the one thing I can't give him._

But then the beginnings of a plan came together in Itachi's mind. A way he could give Naruto just that. It was crazy, and he was not sure if Naruto would like all of the results, but it was all he could do. Before he could enact it, he had to talk to the Hokage. However, getting permission was not the issue, he would do it regardless of what decision was made. Still, the Hokage should know.

"There is more I can do for you, Naruto-kun," Itachi said. "I will see you later tonight."

With that, Itachi left a highly confused and frustrated Naruto on the Hokage Monument.

* * *

"Perhaps what you say is for the best, Itachi," Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Sandaime Hokage, said in response to Itachi's plan. "But my advisers would never allow such a thing. They would rather he be trained in the village at least, and with your plan that obviously won't be possible."

"They merely want him as a weapon," Itachi quietly seethed. "It's not the right thing for him. But I will tell you now that what is good for Naruto-kun will, in time, be good for Konoha as a whole. He will be a great shinobi one day, but for now it's best if he grows up away from the village. And besides, I did not come here seeking permission, Hokage-sama."

Hiruzen sighed wearily, suddenly feeling his age. "Very well. I will not inform them until tomorrow, and by then they won't be able to do anything."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama," Itachi said as he bowed.

* * *

Men. Women. Children. It made no difference, all were felled quickly and silently. For every death he had a hand in, Itachi felt like a bit of himself died as well. This feeling was intensified by the fact that these were his own clansmen. But it was necessary. So he pressed on, and buried his guilt and remorse for later. At last there were only two left: his own parents.

Itachi slid open the door to the room that contained his parents. They sat there, as if they were waiting for him. They did not turn to look at their eldest son that would soon become their executioner.

"So, you joined the other side," Itachi's father, Fugaku, said.

Itachi was not sure what he should say, or even if he should say anything. Still, the words spilled forth from his mouth almost unconsciously.

"Mother... Father..."

"We know, Itachi," Itachi's mother, Mikoto, said.

"Promise us that you will take care of your brother," Fugaku continued.

Itachi could feel the tears building up in his eyes. He wanted to stop them but it was to no avail. Unbidden, they rolled down his cheeks. The tanto in his hand began to clatter quietly in response to his light trembling, as if every fiber of his being was telling him this was wrong. But he knew he had no other choice, and tightened his grip in an attempt to reinforce his resolve.

"I will," Itachi muttered.

"Do not hesitate," Fugaku's voice rang out, his resolve to die at his own son's hand evident. "Our pain will not last long, unlike what you will probably go through. We may think differently, and I had hoped things would not turn out like this, but we're still proud of you."

Itachi began shaking more violently than before, his tears now streaming farther down his face. He silently wondered, if his parents turned around to look him in the face, would he be able to finish things? If they attacked them, would he be able to beat them in this state? … Would he even want to? But his parents were resolute in keeping their backs to their son, as if to alleviate some of the immense pressure Itachi was feeling.

"You really are such a gentle child," Fugaku's last words escaped from his mouth. Itachi grit his teeth in preparation of his next action.

Finally Itachi's blade was plunged into his father's chest, through his heart. His mother was quickly given the same quick death. The entire time he could not stop trembling, nor could he stop the flow of tears that now mingled with the blood on his hands and blade. The deed was now done, and there was no going back. Soon the world would know Itachi as a mass murderer, but the first to find out would be his little brother. Itachi could sense Sasuke running around the compound, and knew that this very room was his next destination. Itachi quickly steeled himself and removed all traces of tears. He once more felt shame in knowing that though today would easily be the worst day of both his and his little brother's lives, he was about to make it much worse. He had to make his own brother hate him, to want to be nothing like the heartless monster he would make himself out to be.

* * *

Naruto was sitting on a bench in the park, still thinking over the words the ANBU known as Weasel had told him. The ninja had told Naruto that there was something more he could do, but he left without any real specifics. All Naruto knew was that he was supposed to see him later tonight, but he was getting tired and wondered if he should just go home. He knew it was not a question of whether Weasel could find him or not, he had always found him easily enough in times past.

Naruto was roused from his thoughts when he saw a young man walking towards him in what was unmistakably ninja gear. The only other details he could make out of this person was the long black hair tied back in a pony tail, with bangs that framed the side of his face. As he got closer, Naruto noticed that he looked quite similar to one of the students Naruto had seen in his class at the academy, though the name escaped him. But Naruto was sure he did not know this person and quickly put himself on guard.

"Who are you and what do you want?"

"Forgive me, Naruto-kun."

Those words matched with that voice and tone made this person's identity unmistakable, Naruto knew then that this was the person that hid behind the Weasel mask. But this development had Naruto asking himself questions in his head, none of which would be answered that night. Before Naruto could say anything, Itachi was instantly behind him and Naruto felt something hit him. His vision went dark, and he could feel himself entering the world of dreams.

* * *

When Naruto awoke he found himself in a relatively comfortable sleeping bag in a clearing surrounded by forest. He had little time to think before he heard a familiar voice.

"Good morning, Naruto-kun."

As he finally remembered his last minute of consciousness from the night before, Naruto was instantly on guard. He estimated that he had about a million different questions, and decided that he should voice them all immediately.

"Where are we!? Why did you bring me here!? Why did you attack me!? Why –"

Naruto instantly stopped speaking as the air itself began to feel oppressive. He was having trouble breathing and took large gulps of it. He could feel himself beginning to sweat. But then everything was as it was before, though he could hear some bustling around the foliage, signaling that the birds and animals in the area had fled in fear.

"Wh-what was t-that?" Naruto asked shakily.

"That was my killing intent," Itachi replied calmly. "I did that to get you to calm down. I will answer your questions, but ask them calmly, and one at a time. If you're to be a ninja someday, then you must eventually learn to contain yourself. I intend for you to learn this quickly."

Naruto had heard of killing intent before, but he had never expected it to feel that bad. Little did he know that Itachi's display was a rather small fraction of what he could produce.

"Okay, so where are we?"

"We are in a forest, very far from Konoha but still inside of Fire Country."

"Why did you bring me here? Did you kidnap me or something?"

"Yes, but this is for your benefit. Right now, I do not think you can live happily in Konoha because of the villagers. I know the location of your godfather, and I intend to have you meet him."

"I... I have a godfather? How come I've never met him? Why hasn't he been there for me?"

"He is a very important man and has duties to the village that constantly keep him out of it. You will not be able to see him very often still because of that but he will assist me in teaching you how to be a ninja."

"Can I... still go back to Konoha?"

"I will let you return anytime you wish, but if you do then I will not go back with you, and you will likely never see me again."

Naruto let out a sigh of relief. Not only would he not be held against his will, he had the opportunity to have people personally train him instead of having to sit through lame academy lessons. For now, he would stay, though he was sure he could learn everything he needed to know in order to be an amazing ninja in just a few months, so being out of the village for that time should be no problem for him. But this brought him back to why this person, whose real name was still unknown, would be willing to go so far for him.

"Why do you want to help me? You know what everyone else thinks of me..."

Itachi thought carefully on how he should answer this question and just how much he should reveal to this child at this time.

"It's because of what those people say and do that I want to help you. Naruto-kun, you deserve to be treated the same as anyone else, but the village denied you that. I did not like the way you've been forced to grow up, and this was the only thing I could think of to help you."

"So what's with all the secrets then? You didn't have to kidnap me. And earlier you said if I left then I'd never see you again, why wouldn't I? Are you saying you're never going back to Konoha?"

"Forgive me Naruto-kun, but there are some circumstances I cannot tell you, including the things you just asked, as well as the reason behind the way you've been treated within Konoha. All I can say is that in time, I will tell you these things when I think you're ready to hear them."

Naruto was not satisfied with that answer, but he understood well enough that shinobi had some secrets they had to keep. At least he knew he would find out someday, hopefully soon. But there was one more thing he wanted to know.

"What's your name?"

At this Itachi smiled, though it was hard to tell through his stoic demeanor.

"Itachi. Uchiha Itachi."

* * *

"What do you mean Itachi took the Kyūbi jinchūriki out of the village!?"

Danzō was livid. So far, all had gone according to plan. Thanks to Tobi and Itachi, he now had plenty of Sharingan at his disposal. Eventually he would have the power of Senju Hashirama as well, and then he would have control of the Kyūbi. But with the boy now gone, there was no telling when he would be able to accomplish that plan. He could only hope that Itachi did not remove Naruto from the village solely to keep Danzō away from him, it would be bad if anyone knew of these plans.

"I mean exactly what I said," Hiruzen said. "Itachi took _Naruto_ out of the village." Hiruzen's emphasis on Naruto's name had a clear meaning: Naruto was a person, not a weapon, something he knew that Danzō heavily disagreed with.

"For what purpose?" Danzō retorted. "The boy is nothing but a weapon to be used in defense of our village, and now Konoha is without its jinchūriki!"

"Itachi did this to give Naruto another chance at a normal childhood. It may be late in coming but this is what the Yondaime wanted for him."

"Such sentiments are utterly foolish, and would see this village turn to dust. The boy should have been given to me from the start."

"Watch your tongue, Danzō," Hiruzen said as his eyes narrowed. "Your warmongering ways would bring naught but chaos and destruction to not only Konoha, but the elemental nations at large. Speaking of which, I do not appreciate you going behind my back and having Itachi slaughter all the rest of his clan, save for Sasuke."

"There was no other way," Danzō said. Though also done out of his own greed, he knew the problem would have been dealt with in this way eventually. "Either they would have to die, or they along with many others would die as well. You know as well as I that those discussions were going nowhere. Better we catch them off guard than they us."

Hiruzen shook his head exasperatedly. Homura and Koharu, who had nothing to say so far, continued to listen in. While they currently sided with Danzō and would rather their jinchūriki remained in the village, they knew there was nothing they could do about it now.

"What's done is done," Hiruzen said. "Itachi is gone and he brought Naruto with him. He agreed to become a part of Jiraiya's spy network in order to continue aiding the village. He will also be training Naruto as a ninja, and Jiraiya will help them with that when he can. With those two training him, Naruto will surely be a force to be reckoned with, in time. In the end, this will benefit Konoha immensely."

"So you say," Danzō said bitterly. "We can only hope."

* * *

**A/N: Hope you enjoyed the first chapter, I had fun writing it. And I hope no one is upset about me writing out the massacre scene with Itachi/Sasuke's parents with almost no changes, but I felt like delving more into what Itachi was feeling that night and what sort of things might have been going through his head at the time. **

**Review please!**


	2. Memories and Meetings

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

**A/N: Chapter two! The response to the first chapter was good, if not somewhat subdued (but maybe I'm being unfair, since I'm comparing it to my other story One Sacrifice Too Many, which kind of exploded for reasons unknown to me). Who knows though, maybe in time this one will get popular as well.**

* * *

**Chapter 2:** _Memories and Meetings_

* * *

Days became weeks. Weeks became months. And eventually, those months became years. Naruto was unsure of when he realized the true scope of what it took to be a ninja; he figured that it must have been a gradual understanding. For all he had learned in the past four years from Itachi and Jiraiya, he saw that he had yet more to learn in time. He may have kept his confidence from his days as a child, but he had discarded his naivety, at least in terms of his skills. He knew that he was no match for his brother figure or his godfather, easily two of the most powerful ninja to ever come from Konoha.

Thinking about them now brought back many memories from the time he spent away from his home village.

Naruto remembered meeting Jiraiya for the first time not long after he had left Konoha. The man seemed incredibly tense upon meeting them; only upon later reflection did he realize that the bulk of his apprehension came from Itachi. But once the two had a hushed conversation away from him, Naruto saw that most of it had vanished. Still, what came next shook him to his core.

The two of them then explained why Naruto's life turned out like it had. To say the young boy was shocked that he held the Kyūbi inside of him was clearly an understatement. But when Jiraiya told him that Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage, was his father, Naruto outright fainted.

It took days for Jiraiya and Itachi to get Naruto back into a good state of mind. It was hard for him to come to terms with the fact that it was his own father that condemned him to the burden of being a jinchūriki, but with time came understanding. His father made the best, and only, choice he could. Naruto knew he could not fault him for that. And it helped to be told by Jiraiya that his father and mother, Uzumaki Kushina, loved him, and were truly looking forward to being his parents, even though that tragically never happened the way any of them wanted.

A year later Jiraiya had told hm that it was time to get in contact with the Kyūbi. At first, Naruto was understandably terrified, but after some goading and some advice from Itachi, he relented. After some instruction on entering his own mind via meditation, he felt his consciousness shift and found himself in what appeared to be a sewer filled with ankle-deep water. Before him was the representation of he seal on his stomach: large, ornate gate-like doors, held together by a simple piece of paper with the kanji for "seal." The meeting that followed was anything but ordinary.

The Kyūbi had tried to intimidate Naruto, but the young boy refused to let the fox get to him. By this point, Naruto's brash nature had been subdued for the most part, and despite knowing of the Kyūbi's viscous and hateful nature, had tried to be friendly with the beast knowing that it probably was not any more fond of its situation than Naruto was. And while the fox remained mostly hostile, Naruto could tell he had caught the creature's intrigue in one way or another.

Once more a year had passed, and Naruto was ten years old at the time. Over time Naruto had traveled with Itachi several times, sometimes with Jiraiya, for the purpose of aiding the toad sage's spy network. A few times Naruto had heard strangers talk in hushed voices about the Uchiha Clan Massacre. From what he understood it had occurred around the time he and Itachi had left Konoha. Naruto deduced that Itachi was involved somehow, in what way he did not know. When he confronted Itachi about it, the young man seemed unsure about revealing such sensitive information, but quickly decided that Naruto could be trusted.

Itachi told him everything about the massacre, except for the fact that a masked man known as Tobi was also involved. Naruto was horrified at every detail. He could not believe that not only was a coup planned by the Uchiha, but that Itachi held the precarious position of being the link between the Uchiha clan and Konoha. He knew Itachi was given impossible choices, that there was no right way to do things. Naruto respected Itachi more than he did anybody else after the tale, knowing the sacrifices he made for the sake of peace in Konoha was far beyond what most anyone else had done. The next words out of Itachi's mouth threatened to break Naruto's emotional walls and force him to cry for the first time in years.

_I really am a terrible brother, aren't I?_

At the time, Naruto could not stop himself from rushing to Itachi and hugging him.

_You're a better person and brother than you know... nii-san._

Naruto's mind returned to the present as he realized that he could see the great wall that surrounded Konoha in the distance. It had been four years of traveling and training, and he was now twelve years old and, in his opinion, a rather skilled shinobi for his age. With him were Jiraiya and Itachi. Jiraiya looked the same as he always did ever since Naruto met him, but Itachi was wearing a hooded cloak with a blank porcelain mask to hide his face.

Obviously Itachi could not reveal his identity while in Konoha. Not only was he well known as the person who slaughtered the Uchiha clan, but it was also known that he kidnapped Naruto when he left. The story given to the public was that soon after fleeing Konoha, Jiraiya saved Naruto from Itachi and decided to make him his temporary apprentice, thus explaining where his skills would come from as well as why he was not immediately returned to Konoha.

"Eh, I don't feel like going through that whole entry procedure thing at the gate," Jiraiya suddenly voiced his thoughts. "What do you guys say we sneak in and go straight to the Hokage?"

"Sounds good to me," Naruto said. "I want to see how far I've gotten with my stealth training, this will be a good test of that."

"You were already stealthy enough as a child when you pulled pranks on a village of ninjas without getting caught," Itachi retorted. "Your stealth has only gotten better since then; I highly doubt any of us will have a problem."

"Okay, enough talking, time for us to sneak in," Jiraiya said with a hint of excitement. After all, it had been a long time since he, or his two accomplices for that matter, had seen their home. Jiraiya was especially anticipating seeing his old sensei, and telling him how far Naruto had come in his training. There was also the hot springs to consider for what would surely result in some bountiful research.

Meanwhile at the Hokage tower, Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Sandaime Hokage, was in the middle of a discussion with a soon-to-be jōnin sensei.

"Uzumaki Naruto should be arriving any day now, from what Jiraiya told me. My intention is to assign him to you, along with Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura. I have no idea how he's changed or what he's learned since Jiraiya rescued him from Itachi, so with both him and Sasuke under your tutelage, you'll have your hands full. Still, I believe you can handle it."

"Understood, Hokage-sama," Hatake Kakashi lazily drawled out. "I'm looking forward to seeing what they can do, provided they pass my test of course."

"I think between them they'll be able to figure out your game," Hiruzen mused. "It'd be a shame though if such promising students had to take remedial coursework if they fail."

"Perhaps," Kakashi said thoughtfully. "Still, such potential is wasted in people who can't figure out the most important part of being a ninja anyway."

With that, Kakashi casually turned around and waved, signaling his departure from the Hokage's office.

For a few more minutes Hiruzen continued to do the paper work that that title of Kage came bundled with. Absently wondering whether it was time he chose a successor once more, he heard a knock at the door. Wondering who it could be since he had no more appointments for the day, he decided that whatever or whoever it was would be enough to distract him from the day's paperwork for a while. He called for them to enter.

Inside walked in Jiraiya, a young blond boy that Hiruzen knew had to be an older Naruto, and a masked and cloaked individual who was obviously accompanying them.

"Ah, Jiraiya, Naruto-kun, good to see you both," Hiruzen said genially. "And if that's who I think it is..."

"It is," interjected Jiraiya.

"I see," Hiruzen said as he subtly signaled for the ANBU hidden in the room to leave and seal the room to give them privacy. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that you didn't check in at the gates Jiraiya, given that you're you, after all."

"You know me too well, sensei," Jiraiya replied with a smile.

They continued on with the pleasantries and reintroductions. Soon, they got on to he reasons for their arrival.

"So, why have you all come back now?" Hiruzen asked.

"Well, it's about time Naruto became an official ninja, his old class is graduating in a few days, right?" Jiraiya asked, and received a nod from Hiruzen. "I thought he should be paired with kids his own age, even though his skills are way beyond them. Besides that, I have intel on Orochimaru that you'll want to know."

"Go on," Hiruzen said as his face became set and steely.

"You remember when I told you he joined Akatsuki?"

"Yes. Is he planning something involving other members from it?"

"I doubt it. He actually left the group recently, but my information suggests that Orochimaru is planning something big. It's possible that they had a conflict of interests, since Akatsuki seems to have been purposely laying low, and we still don't know what they're really after. But that's a conversation for later. Anyway, Orochimaru started a new ninja village recently, called Otogakure, and from what I understand has been in negotiations with the Kazekage for a while now. Over what, I don't know, but my instincts tell me it has to do with the upcoming Chūnin Exams here in Konoha."

"As for why I am here now," Itachi said. "I felt my skills would be best put to use serving Konoha more directly, at least until whatever Orochimaru has planned passes. Perhaps if I were to secretly rejoin the ANBU ranks...?"

"Sounds reasonable," Hiruzen replied. "However, I would advise against taking on the identity of 'Weasel' a second time, for obvious reasons."

"Agreed," Itachi said in his usual stoic manner.

"If that's all then we'll go over more details later," Hiruzen said. "I think for the time being that you three should lodge together while you're all here, it makes things easier for me. I'll arrange for a three-bedroom apartment for you to live in. Naruto, be at the academy tomorrow morning at eight to get reacquainted with your classmates and get ready for the Genin Exam, which I'm sure you'll have no problem passing. Itachi, Jiraiya, be here in my office at the same time tomorrow."

"Understood," Itachi said.

"You got it sensei," Jiraiya said.

"Thanks, see you around old man!" Naruto said with a hint of his old exuberance.

_Good to see some things never change_, Hiruzen thought as they left. He was glad that even if Naruto had calmed down a lot, he was still the same person underneath.

* * *

"Good morning class," Umino Iruka said to a soon-to-be new batch of genin. "Some of you might remember this young man as Uzumaki Naruto," he continued as he gestured to Naruto, who was standing at his side. "Several years ago, due to certain events, he left the academy and was trained under a private instructor. Now I know that classes as a whole are almost over, but try to make him feel welcome until you all graduate."

The students had mixed reactions. About half of them did not remember Naruto in any way, shape, or form. Most of the others who did remembered him as a pathetic student at every subject. One student in particular had a hard look of concentration on his face, as if trying to remember something more important.

_Uzumaki Naruto_, Uchiha Sasuke thought as he looked at the blond intently, like one would if he were trying to figure out a puzzle. _Wait, he's the guy Itachi kidnapped!_

Sasuke had of course heard of his brother kidnapping someone from the village as he left, but he had no idea what the motive behind it was or how Naruto had gotten out of the situation. He resolved to talk to the blond about it later; any kind of information he could get on Itachi could be vital to his goal.

Class that day proceeded as it usually did until it was time for the students to have a break for lunch. To Naruto, it was a much needed release from boredom; the classes seemed even more bring than he remembered. He decided that now would be a good time to get ramen at Ichiraku's. It had been four years since he had eaten there, which he still considered the home of the best ramen in the world even after sampling some from many different places when he traveled. More importantly though, he wanted to see Teuchi and his daughter Ayame. They were among the few people he remembered as always being kind to him, and while he had wanted to see them the day before, he was too busy settling back into Konoha again. He was then broken from his excited thoughts before he could leave the classroom.

"Hey, Naruto right?" Sasuke said as he walked up to Naruto, who nodded. "You think we could talk about something during the break?"

Naruto had a pretty good idea of what he might want to talk about, though there was absolutely no way he was going to tell Sasuke the whole truth. While in his opinion Sasuke should learn the truth at some point, he knew it should be Itachi that told him.

"Yeah, sure," Naruto replied. "But can we do it while we walk? I'm really hungry and there's some people I was hoping to meet up with while I eat."

"Fine," Sasuke said, and then the two began their trek to the ramen stand. Sasuke knew it was a rather awkward thing to bring up, but he decided the best way to do so was to be direct. "You were the one my brother, Itachi, kidnapped years ago, right?"

"Right," Naruto answered with a sigh.

"Well, could you tell me anything you might have learned about him? Anything I could find out about him could help me with... my ambition," Sasuke vaguely elaborated.

Naruto of course decided to lie.

"There's nothing I can really tell you. He just kidnapped me one night and knocked me out. By the time I came to, it wasn't long before I was rescued by Jiraiya, the toad sage. I'm pretty sure he wasn't even out to get me specifically, he only needed someone he might be able to use to get away in case people chased after him, and I just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time."

Sasuke begrudgingly nodded, knowing he should not have expected much more than that. But then something else piqued his curiosity. He remembered Iruka mentioning that Naruto had received private training over the years. And Naruto just said he was rescued by none other than Jiraiya of the Sannin. Then he combined that with the fact that Naruto had not been in the academy, possibly Konoha at all, since he was kidnapped. After another few moments of silent walking, Sasuke spoke once more.

"Was Jiraiya the person Iruka-sensei was talking about when he said you had a 'private instructor?'"

"Yeah," Naruto answered, seeing no harm in Sasuke knowing the same cover story that most of the higher level ninjas were told. He then anticipated where Sasuke's thoughts would lead him next. "And before you ask, I don't know why he decided to train me. Honestly I've got no idea what goes through that pervert's head half the time, and I'm not sure I want to either." He knew it was better to not mention that Jiraiya was his godfather, knowing that would bring forth many more questions that he did not want to answer.

Sasuke stumbled at Naruto's last statement. "Did you say he's a pervert?" Sasuke asked disbelievingly.

"Yeah. If you don't believe me then just call him that if you ever see him. He'll probably just deny it and then claim to be a 'super pervert.'" Sasuke sweatdropped at the revelation. "Well, Ichiraku's is just around the corner now, is that all you wanted to talk about?"

"Yeah," Sasuke affirmed. "I'll let you get on with whoever you wanted to meet with. See you around."

"Later."

As Sasuke walked away, he felt like he was in a better mood than he had felt in years. He thought that perhaps there was someone his age who might be able to keep up with him, given that Naruto had actually been trained by someone like Jiraiya, who was clearly a talented shinobi despite his recently revealed perverse attitude.

* * *

A few days later Naruto was waiting in the academy. He had passed the exam easily, and now proudly wore his headband on his forehead. While he silently pondered the merits of being on a team with some of his various classmates, Iruka was going through the motions of rattling off the new teams.

"Team Seven will be Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, and Uchiha Sasuke," Iruka announced, before being interrupted by a loud outburst.

"Yeah! True love conquers all! Take that, Ino-pig!" Sakura proudly yelled to the classroom at large.

Many of the girls in the room groaned in disappointment at not being on the same team as Sasuke, while went on a short rant about how unfair the situation was. While Sasuke did not really care for Sakura, he thought it was interesting that Naruto was on his team and that he might have a teammate who would not slow him down. Naruto had no outward reaction, but on the inside we was wondering if it would be good or bad in the long run to be on the same team as Sasuke, though he could see the reasoning behind why the Hokage would set things up like that. Soon the sounds of bickering filled the classroom.

"Everyone shut up!" Iruka yelled as loudly as he could in an attempt to get the kids under control. When they finally subsided, Iruka continued. "As I was saying, Team Seven's sensei will be Hatake Kakashi."

Naruto was not terribly surprised at who their sensei would be, based on what Itachi had told him about the man from their days in ANBU together. It made a good amount of sense. Naruto also knew they would probably be waiting an extra few hours for Kakashi to meet up with them up today, and that his lateness would most likely be recurring.

When Iruka finally finished announcing the teams, he allowed them time to eat and meet with each other before being picked up by their new sensei. Naruto thought about eating with Sasuke and Sakura, but before he could go ask them he watched as Sasuke left the room to eat alone while Sakura followed him out. He merely shrugged and decided to eat alone in the room.

Later when the new genin came back Sasuke came up and sat beside him with an annoyed look on his face. Not long after that Sakura came in as well and sat on his other side, while hers was a face of slight dejection. Naruto correctly and easily deduced that these matters were related, and wondered whether he should talk to them about it. He had some ideas of what to say, but figured it would be best to talk to them individually.

Within ten minutes all of the other students had left the classroom with their sensei, leaving only Team Seven. Two hours later Sasuke's annoyed look had become more pronounced, and Sakura felt rather annoyed at having to wait this long for their sensei as well. Finally the door opened and in walked a fairly tall man dressed in mostly standard attire, sporting spiky silver hair, a headband that covered one of his eyes, and a cloth mask that covered the lower half of his face, leaving only one eye visible on his face.

"You're late!" Sakura yelled.

"Sorry about that," Kakashi drawled. "On my way here a chicken crossed the road in front of me and I spent a while trying to figure out why before I realized I was late."

_What a horrible lie_, all three genin thought while they sweatdropped.

"Hmm... well, you three are certainly... interesting," Kakashi continued after they did not reply. "Meet me on the roof."

After the three genin arrived on the roof, they sat down in front of Kakashi who was leaning against the railing.

"Alright, time for some introductions," Kakashi began.

"What do you wanna know Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked.

"Oh, you know, names, likes, dislikes, hobbies dreams, those sorts of things. Who wants to go first?" Kakashi was answered with silence. "I suppose I'll volunteer. My name is Hatake Kakashi. My likes and dislikes are none of your business. My dreams... hmm.. never really thought about it. And I have lots of hobbies."

All three of them sweatdropped at him once more.

_All we know about him is his name_, Sasuke and Sakura thought.

_His guy's just like Itachi and Ero-sennin described_, Naruto thought. _Hopefully he'll be a good teacher._

"Well that's enough about me," Kakashi said with an eye-smile. "How about... you?" Kakashi pointed at Naruto.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto," Naruto started in a slight cheery tone. "I like ramen, training, and learning new jutsu. I dislike people who engage in senseless violence. My hobby is gardening. My dreams are to be Hokage and to establish peace."

Kakashi was intrigued by Naruto's answer. He had certainly changed a lot from the hyperactive kid he sometimes looked over while he was in ANBU. The excitable personality was still there somewhat, that much was obvious, but it had been toned down a lot. It was not what he would have expected from him given that he spent the past four years with Jiraiya. Setting aside his curiosity for another time when he could talk with Jiraiya about it, he then gestured to Sakura to let her know to go next.

"My name is Haruno Sakura. What I like... I mean the person I like... Um, my dreams..." she said while stealing glances at Sasuke before she let out a high pitched squeal, as if it was too difficult to voice her affections. One would think whatever happened between her and Sasuke earlier did not take place.

"And your dislikes?" Kakashi lazily asked.

"Uh... I don't know. I guess Ino-pig," she replied with a grimace.

_Looks like she's obsessed with Sasuke_, Kakashi thought with a mental sigh, knowing that such obsessions were counterproductive to being a good ninja. He lastly looked at Sasuke with a silent command for him to introduce himself.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I don't really like anything, but I have many dislikes. What I have is not a dream, but more of an ambition. I will restore my clan, and I will also kill a certain man," he darkly proclaimed.

_That's about what I expected_, Kakashi thought.

_I get wanting revenge on Itachi given what he knows_, Naruto thought._ But it's not good to be as obsessed over it as he seems to be._

Once they finished their introductions, Kakashi proceeded to tell them they had a sort of survival training exam the next morning, and that if they failed then they would be sent back to the academy. He told them to arrive at six in the morning, and not to eat breakfast lest they throw it back up during the test.

With that, Kakashi dismissed them and they all retired to their homes in order to prepare the next day's ordeal.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading. For those of you who read OSTM (which I'm guessing is about 99% of you right now), that should be updated within a week. Remember to review!**


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